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Chapter 145 Mohammad Back At It Again
Following the rapid operation by the special forces, the secret society vanished from existence, leaving no trace behind. An organization with the potential for catastrophic impact on Vijayanagara disappeared abruptly. Upon reviewing the report outlining this development, satisfaction filled Vijay, but a lingering annoyance remained over the fact that someone managed to slip away unnoticed. Recognizing the complication, especially given that mid-level Secret Service agents like Praveen possessed more information than the lower-ranking agents, he strengthened his resolve to further reform the Secret Service.
Despite the previous gloomy mood, the anticipation of the arrival of various scholars brought joy to Vijay. However, before delving into the happiness of the occasion, he felt compelled to meet the legendary figure, Tukaram, whom even Kavya had already met. Although she had already taken his blessing, Vijay was yet to have an audience with the legendary figure who even had movies made about him in the 21st century.
Filled with excitement, Vijay donned his saffron robe and left the palace to visit Saint Tukaram in his designated rest house, a courtesy provided upon his arrival in the Vijayanagara Empire. Upon reaching the rest house, he knocked on the door. Notably, he instructed his guards to wait outside the compound, emphasizing that they should not disturb him during the meeting.
*click*
The door clicked open lightly. In front of him, there's an old man dressed in dhoti (trousers), pagdi (turban), and angarkhas (long coats), all of it in white. He was also wearing a tilaka along with a necklace made out of beads.
As soon as the old man saw Vijay, he laughed and said, "Hehe, come on inside, son. I was waiting for you." Vijay was surprised by the old man's attitude; it was as if the old man already knew him, being very casual and not using any formal title. However, he did not mind; on the contrary, he liked it very much. Vijay would be embarrassed if the saint really called him like everyone else. Putting the thought aside, He entered the house. But as soon as he entered, he could see that Tukaram had already made it his home, as most of the walls were inscribed with some Sanskrit poems and classical patterns all along the edges of the wall. Along with that, he could vaguely see a Vithoba idol (a Hindu god who is worshipped in Maharashtra and Karnataka) placed in the pooja room of the house. The house is built such that the pooja room is vaguely visible to the visitors.
But first steps first, Vijay quickly joined his hands and gave him a light bow. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Saint. I admire you very much. I have read a lot of your abhangas, especially 'Maze Maher Pandhari' (My Mother Pandharpur), 'Vrukshvalli Aamha Soyari' (We are like creepers), and 'Aata Kothe Dhave Man' (Where do you run, Mind?)." They're some of my favourites. Your work has inspired me immensely. My sincere wish is to hear you sing them sometimes."
Vijay spoke with a demeanour of utmost respect, a tone rarely heard from him since his rebirth. The person standing before him was a true giant of the times, prompting Vijay's inner fanboy to surface involuntarily.
"Haha, Your Majesty, I am just a humble subordinate of you. You don't have to praise me so much. I know you are the person sent by Lord Vithoba to show us light and bring us to prosperity. As for my abhangas, those are nothing; they are just my heartfelt words that I wrote in the process of reaching the lord."
Vijay was stunned, not understanding what Tukaram meant by "lord had sent him." 'Does Tukaram know about his reincarnation?' he thought to himself. But soon, he put that thought out of his head because that didn't seem like the case. If anything, Vijay guessed that Tukaram had spent so long and deep in the search of the divine and to be with the divine. Maybe he could sense when someone does not match their environment. Honestly, Vijay did not know.
In a similar fashion, Vijay engaged in a prolonged conversation with the saint before eventually bidding him farewell. As he left, Vijay extended an invitation to the saint to join the conference he was planning to host the following morning.
..........
Mughal Empire, Agra.
After the war, the capital of the Mughal Empire became bleak with the loss of three territories. The income of the Empire was hugely damaged. On top of that, as soon as the news of the failure in battle was heard, the old prime minister Mustafa had chest pain and died successively. The old man, who worked under two emperors, was very loyal to the Mughal Empire. With his death, along with the failure and the loss of such a huge territory, the royal palace became dull. The emperor even stopped visiting his harem very often.
Mohammed felt sad for the passing of the old man; As he always wanted to let him retire after he conquered the Vijayanagar Empire. 'PSSh, who is he kidding?' It was his delusion that led him to believe that nonsense. Now, because of his arrogance, he not only lost a significant part of the Empire but also lost a trusted prime minister.
"Your Highness."
Suddenly, a female voice was heard. He was already in an unhappy mood. So, he turned around with the intent of striking whoever called him. But looking at one of his favourite concubines that called him, he restrained his hand. Still, he asked irritably, "What is it?"
"Your majesty, the prime minister candidate has been decided. Now, The court ministers are waiting for your decree."
"Oh, is that so? Ok, you move on. I will be there."
He said as he left to write the decree. Although he was in a bad mood, he couldn't just skip the matters of the Empire, now could he? The next prime minister candidate was selected by him. He put a few requirements for the person. The first one is loyalty to himself and the royal family, the second one is that they must have proper qualifications and experience, and next, they must have a good political influence as well as a good family background. After filtering out a lot of people who did not have all the requirements, three people were selected. Mohammad had no personal preference out of all these three people, but his family had a lot of ties and interests tied to these nobles. So, he left the decision among these three people to his family. He knew his family would choose the person who gave the most benefits and not the most capable, but he did not care. As long as the ministers met his basic requirements, they could fulfil the role of prime minister under him.
Moreover, he did not like delegating too much of his power to someone else, even his own family member, much less an outsider.
After drafting the decree, he went to the palace and appointed Mohammed Muizzu, a 40-year-old man selected as the Prime Minister of the Mughal Empire. Upon recalling the details about Muizzu from the report, Mohammed was particularly impressed with how efficiently Muizzu had brought Bengal under control. The way in which he did it was exquisite, and this strategy was later used in many other places. The strategy involved creating a new problem in Bengal, which did not even exist before. The higher-class Bengalis, who are pro-Hindu, were portrayed as an evil dictatorship controlling the masses and propagating that all the troubles of Bengal were originating from the higher-class nobles. Vijay was very impressed upon learning about this plan. However, he was more surprised that this plan only worked half-heartedly because a complete insurgence against the upper classes did not occur as expected. Apparently, the Hindu top-class elite assisted the poor significantly, and most of the atrocities were committed by the Mughals. So, despite no one using a tactic like this before to divide the people, The People felt like the rumours were false. Nonetheless, the plan was partially successful as the rumours created a line of doubt among the masses, preventing them from fully uniting as a community as they used to. In this manner, Muizzu was very successful in bringing the state of Bengal, which is the largest, fully under Mughal control.
Back to the present, after the ceremony, Mohammad met with Adam, the chief craftsman of the Mughal Empire. He then asked the question, "Were you able to duplicate those guns?"
Adam, in response to the question, hesitated before answering, "Your Majesty, the principles of these guns are no different from the cannons, but the demand for guns is much higher than for cannons. So, the problem now is that we are able to make these guns, but just not in such high numbers as those Vijayanagar craftsmen do. I still do not know how this country manufactured so many guns. I have inspected them all, and what surprises me is that the guns Vijayanagar manufactured also look handmade. But the weird part is that They are very uniform like a single person made all these guns. So, your Highness, I need to know how Vijayanagar manufactured these guns."
Mohammed got annoyed by the answer and wanted to have Adam whipped a few times. But thinking about how the person in front of him is the only master craftsman in the empire, he decided against it and retorted instead, "If I had known the manufacturing process, why would I come to you?"
Adam was embarrassed as he now realized that he had asked a stupid question. Thinking about alternatives, he replied, "Your Highness, if you don't mind, I think with my connections, you can buy this manufacturing technology from the Ottoman Empire. And even if you can't find this technology in the Ottoman Empire, you can procure it through the Ottoman Empire from the Western European countries where this technology originated."
Mohammed nodded And Wanted to scold him again as to why he did not inform him beforehand. But the next words let him know why.
"But, Your Highness, if you do decide to procure through this channel, you have to be prepared. These Europeans are very arrogant and are trying to colonize the whole world. They may not necessarily sell it to us, and even if they do, the price will be so exorbitant that you could easily build a monument with it, and I heard that they only accept payment in gold or silver."
Mohammed frowned as he got this information. It was okay if it was only a little costlier, but looking at how Adam said that it would cost a monument's worth of money, he became hesitant.
While he was in contemplation, a dark figure approached him from the back and broke him from his contemplation.
Looking back, it was Moin Ali. He was confused about why Moin Ali would disturb him.
But Moin Ali, seeing Adam, did not speak but passed on a letter to Muhammad.
Mohammed, still confused, read the letter. As he finished reading the letter, a smile slowly blossomed on his face. It has been almost a year since the last time he laughed.
"Good job, you can go now," Mohammed patted Moin Ali's back in a good mood as he turned towards Adam and replied, "We will soon get the manufacturing method you asked for."